Life update and some news
For those of you who don't pay close attention to the news (although, avoiding obama and co these days is a little hard):
1. Obama orders closed immediately several secret CIA prisons, and gives one year for the closing of Guantánamo Bay prison. On the one hand, it's absolutely pathetic that this should have to be news--our government is abiding by international humanitarian standards? We're respecting the rule of law? Hold the press!--but I'm oh so glad that Obama is making some (at least symbolic) change in this arena. (article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/23GITMOCND.html)
2. Hillary went to work as the secretary of state today, and I am SO EXCITED. So much Hillary love.
3. Not as exciting as Hillary... Geithner got approved as secretary of finance today. Anybody else annoyed that a tax evader is now running the IRS? I recognize, desperate times, desperate measures, but really... what the hell?
Now that THOSE sticky things are out of the way...
I'm leaving for Mexico Saturday morning, and really need to start planning and packing and doing all of the pre-departure cleaning stuff that is so damn time consuming. So far this quarter has been rather slow due to a temporarily light class load (effectively, I'm only taking two classes until the data collection and analysis starts up. so, until saturday. then i'm effectively taking five.) and a small cast of supporting players--everybody is panicky and stressed out, and it's only third week. I guess that's just life.
Also, I've been walking to and from school every day, and doing mat pilates every morning. So far, my "take a chill pill, dude" resolution is working out well--I'm much calmer and much nicer to be around. That's probably largely attributable to the light class load, but I think I'm gonna give props to the four miles a day and the glorified ab workout.
I'm bringing my (new!) camera with me to Mexico, so I hope there will be lots and lots of pictures of mayan ruins and the town fiestas and me interviewing people and the local sinkholes. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS TRIP!!! I might actually make a blogspot account and update it every couple of days for those of you who are interested in following my adventures.
Lamer than Mexico, I successfully applied to the national political science honors association. I have to pay my (one-time) dues by the end of the week, and then I'm officially supernerdy. Way exciting. And if any of you have time or interest, you should watch "Cocalero" (documentary film about Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia). It's not the best documentary ever, and underexplores lots of relevant issues (such as the really bizarre rules of the party) but it's interesting if you're into socialism, latin america, indigenous movements, or observing the impact of indigenous languages on spanish accents. Also, I just saw Supersize Me... dear LORD. Gross.
1. Obama orders closed immediately several secret CIA prisons, and gives one year for the closing of Guantánamo Bay prison. On the one hand, it's absolutely pathetic that this should have to be news--our government is abiding by international humanitarian standards? We're respecting the rule of law? Hold the press!--but I'm oh so glad that Obama is making some (at least symbolic) change in this arena. (article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/23GITMOCND.html)
2. Hillary went to work as the secretary of state today, and I am SO EXCITED. So much Hillary love.
3. Not as exciting as Hillary... Geithner got approved as secretary of finance today. Anybody else annoyed that a tax evader is now running the IRS? I recognize, desperate times, desperate measures, but really... what the hell?
Now that THOSE sticky things are out of the way...
I'm leaving for Mexico Saturday morning, and really need to start planning and packing and doing all of the pre-departure cleaning stuff that is so damn time consuming. So far this quarter has been rather slow due to a temporarily light class load (effectively, I'm only taking two classes until the data collection and analysis starts up. so, until saturday. then i'm effectively taking five.) and a small cast of supporting players--everybody is panicky and stressed out, and it's only third week. I guess that's just life.
Also, I've been walking to and from school every day, and doing mat pilates every morning. So far, my "take a chill pill, dude" resolution is working out well--I'm much calmer and much nicer to be around. That's probably largely attributable to the light class load, but I think I'm gonna give props to the four miles a day and the glorified ab workout.
I'm bringing my (new!) camera with me to Mexico, so I hope there will be lots and lots of pictures of mayan ruins and the town fiestas and me interviewing people and the local sinkholes. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS TRIP!!! I might actually make a blogspot account and update it every couple of days for those of you who are interested in following my adventures.
Lamer than Mexico, I successfully applied to the national political science honors association. I have to pay my (one-time) dues by the end of the week, and then I'm officially supernerdy. Way exciting. And if any of you have time or interest, you should watch "Cocalero" (documentary film about Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia). It's not the best documentary ever, and underexplores lots of relevant issues (such as the really bizarre rules of the party) but it's interesting if you're into socialism, latin america, indigenous movements, or observing the impact of indigenous languages on spanish accents. Also, I just saw Supersize Me... dear LORD. Gross.